Thursday, February 28, 2013

The Spirit Way of the Ming Dynasty Tombs (China, Day 2)

Day 2 in China featured a tour of the Spirit Way of the Ming Dynasty Tombs outside of Beijing, followed by a tour of the Badaling section of the Great Wall. The latter will follow shortly, but for now, here are some photos of the Spirit Way.

Before we could get to the Ming Dynasty Tombs, we had to compete with Beijing's infamous traffic. Usually it wasn't too bad, considering the massive population, but obviously morning rush hour is a major exception.

The air quality was also much worse today than the previous day.

One of the parts of the Beijing wall fortifications, marking that you are venturing outside of the city.

During the drive, Jing informed us of our destination.

I have no idea who is represented with this statue, but it was still impressive driving by it.

Once we got out of the bus, Suz put on her mask to combat the air pollution. I went without it.

If you'd like more info about the Ming Tombs, click here.

A map of the complex. We wouldn't be seeing any actual tombs (the guide books even say it's not most peoples' cup of tea), but only the Spirit Way.

The Spirit Way, however, was much longer than any of us realized. The start of it is through that gate in the distance.

Possible Chinese New Year decorations...

Here we go!

The Spirit Way is marked by a series of statues that flank each side of the road. All of these statues are originals, and not modern reproductions.

A wise looking individual.

The statues were extremely photogenic.

Everyone wanted to pose with them...

...even ugly bloggers.

This 5-year old girl was hilarious. She travels well.

She's still cute, even with the mask on.

"Grrrr..."

"Mess with me and you'll get bludgeoned."

Not all of the statues were of people. Many animals, both real and mystical, were represented.

Here's an example of a mythical one.

The elephants were the largest statues.

The camels were fairly large, too.

We don't have too many photos of the two of us together in China, but this is one of them.

At look back at how far we walked.

A swifter mode of transportation.

This gate housed some interesting objects, and was the end of the Spirit Way.

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About Me

I'm a Bay Area native with a love-hate relationship towards my homeland... so I try to get out as much as I can, so that I eventually come to miss it! Oh, and I'm the teacher of some of the best kids in the world.